Snogging Nog
by Ineffabilitea
Summary: In which Sirius pulls off a Christmas prank, Remus makes a list, James is overdramatic, and Peter is concerned for Remus' health. RLSB Slash. Now complete with Part Two: Stripping Solution.
1. Snogging Nog

"Christmas is coming, the Ghoul is getting fat, please put a Pixie in the old man's hat. If you haven't got a Pixie, a Grindylow will do, if you haven't got a Grindylow then come by Floo!"

Remus could hear Sirius' singing echoing down the stairs as he sat in the Gryffindor common room completing his Herbology homework. He looked up as Sirius crossed the room and sat down across from him.

"Your lyrics don't make any sense, you know."

"What's that, Moony?"

"Ghouls don't get fat- comes from living off insects. And the Floo thing is nonsense, it doesn't even fit."

"You're sadly lacking in Christmas spirit, Moony. That song is a classic. Or it will be, someday, just like 'God Rest Ye, Merry Hippogriffs'."

"I still maintain that Hippogriffs are far from merry. And I have plenty of Christmas spirit, I'll have you know." And Remus did love Christmas and looked forward to it all year, in fact; it was just that if Sirius was "God Rest Ye, Merry Hippogriffs", then he was "The Holly and the Ivy". Perhaps unsurprisingly, while he favoured the quiet and mystical side of the winter holidays, Sirius preferred the loud and shiny portions. But secretly, Remus thought he had never enjoyed Christmas as much before he met Sirius Black; they complemented each other, and Sirius evoked the simple joy of the holidays for him in a way he always had missed at home, where Christmas was about candles and stars and Handel's Messiah, and not about tinsel and wassail and the ridiculous spur-of-the-moment carols Sirius took such delight in. Remus wondered whether he himself made Sirius more contemplative about the season and shuddered to think how hyperactive he must be without his influence if this was true.

"Did you buy all your Christmas presents yet?"

Remus was not, in fact, done with his Christmas shopping; he had no idea what to get Sirius, and it was driving him mad. What does a werewolf get the boy he fancies? The boy who's also his best friend? All his ideas seemed either too fraught with meaning, or meaningless and impersonal. He had given up even thinking about it a week ago, hoping something would come to him. But Sirius certainly didn't need to know any of that.

"Yeah, I finished about a week ago. I got Peter a bound set of _Martin Miggs_ comics, and James a bunch of charmed Golden Snitch erasers. They'll all have flown off within a week, but he'll love them. You?"

"All done. I got Wormtail a new set of Gobstones, and Prongs and I are giving each other pranks for Christmas, so that's all set too."

"You and James are pranking each other for Christmas?"

"Not pranking each other, more like committing pranks in honour of each other. Sort of an homage. Mine's going to be brilliant, James'll love it."

Remus didn't say anything for a few moments, but went back to his Herbology, knowing the pause would infuriate Sirius, who was clearly itching to share. Finally, when Sirius' knee had begun to twitch violently under the table, Remus knew it was time to end his torment. "So, what do you have planned?"

"Snogging Nog. I've hoodwinked the House Elves and they'll be distributing it instead of the normal eggnog tonight at dinner."

"Snogging Nog? And what is that, exactly?"

"Eggnog that causes the drinker to spend the next hour or so kissing everyone he or she sees passionately, of course. Like supercharged liquid mistletoe."

Remus had to admit that this sounded like a pretty amusing idea. James would indeed love it. "What do you put in the eggnog to get that effect? I should think you've spent enough time with James to know that Love Potions are illegal."

"Yes, Moony, Love Potions are illegal. But Kissing Potions are not."

"What's the difference?"

"A Kissing Potion just makes you kiss people; it doesn't make you actually like them. And so it is perfectly acceptable under wizarding law."

"So this Snogging Nog of yours could make, say, Peter kiss Filch? And like it?"

"No, see that's the especially brilliant part! He wouldn't like it at all, but he wouldn't be able to stop himself. Imagine the looks on everyone's faces! But I'm afraid Peter's off the hook; I'll warn him and James not to have any of the eggnog."

"Won't it seem suspicious if we're the only ones not kissing?"

"Not really, because plenty of people will still be compelled to kiss us. Best of all, this might even get Prongs a kiss from Evans, if he angles it right. Just stay out of Snivellus' way, or he'll end up kissing you."

"I may just avoid dinner altogether, at this rate."

"What? Why, Moony? You can't, it'll be a shining moment in my pranking career! You don't want to miss it, do you?"

Put that way, no, he really didn't. Sirius would be in his element as the mayhem hit, laughing and tossing his gleaming black hair, grey eyes dancing, cheerfully kissing everyone who kissed him…maybe Remus could accidentally-on-purpose have some of the Snogging Nog? Then he could kiss Sirius, in the Great Hall, even, in front of everyone.

That thought brought him back to the matter at hand. The truth was, Remus didn't want to be at dinner when the Snogging Nog hit because he didn't want to kiss anyone he didn't genuinely care about. But how could he explain that to Sirius? He would laugh, and tell him he was a _girl_, and drag him down to dinner anyway. And he wasn't being a girl about it, not really; he thought it showed real emotional maturity to only want to engage in that sort of thing with someone he was serious about.

Oh, who was he kidding? If he could think that with a straight face, he really was a girl!

He decided to settle for a half-truth. "It's a great prank, really it is, Padfoot, and I'd love to see it. But I don't really fancy the idea of all the bad kissing that's likely to ensue."

"What do you mean, _bad_ kissing? It's not meant to be bad kissing, just enforced kissing."

"Yes, and I've never had a good kiss with someone who didn't _want_ to be kissing me." This was only a lie of omission, after all; he'd never kissed anyone who didn't want to kiss him _at all_, good or bad, so the statement was technically true. "I'm not keen on the idea of getting snogged if it's going to feel like being attacked by the squid, or a cold fish. Doesn't sound fun, so I'll just avoid it." He thought that had come off rather well; it even gave the impression that he had loads of experience, when really he had only kissed a couple of girls and just one boy.

He had forgotten to take into account Sirius' contrary nature. "So what you're saying, Moony, is that you think that any kiss with someone you don't fancy is automatically a bad kiss?"

"Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying."

"Moony, Moony, Moony, how wrong you are! I'm not saying there's no such thing as a bad kiss, but I've never noticed any link between feelings and quality. It's all about the skill of your kissing partner. Here, I'll prove it to you."

"What?" Remus felt he had lost control of the conversation, and it now seemed to be veering in a dangerous direction.

"I'll show you. Now, I know I'm a good kisser-" _Of course he is_, thought Remus- "and I don't fancy you, and you don't fancy me-" Remus decided to let that assumption pass unchallenged- " as we're both blokes, and good mates, and all that. So we can't possibly fancy each other, right?"

Remus tried not to let the disappointment show on his face. It was foolish; of course he knew the chances that Sirius, too, was interested in boys were slim, but Sirius was always so unconventional, so rebellious, that he had hoped he'd turn out to be exceptional in this, too. He was certain he had imagined the tiny quiver of uncertainty in Sirius' voice. Wishful thinking, was what it was.

"In fact," Sirius continued, "these are perfect conditions for a test: if I kiss you, it'll be a good kiss due to my talent, without any feelings involved."

Before Remus even had time to think _oh my god, Sirius Black is about to kiss me_, he actually was. And it was indeed a wonderful kiss. Sirius' lips were warm and soft, and the kiss somehow managed to be gentle but ardent at the same time. He was startled at first, but seeing as this might be his only chance to kiss Sirius, he only hesitated for a fraction of a second before beginning to kiss back. Surely that would be expected, even if they were just testing a theory? For a purely experimental kiss, it certainly seemed to go on and on, and Remus began to wonder what was happening- surely Sirius hadn't intended to kiss him this thoroughly just to prove a point? But Sirius showed no signs of stopping; and now, _good lord_ he had his tongue in Remus' mouth and the balance had definitely tipped towards passionate. The part of Remus' brain that was still functioning began to put more faith in the imagined uncertainty in Sirius' voice. Maybe more than one theory was being tested with this kiss?

After what seemed like an eternity, but was probably only several seconds, Sirius pulled away. He looked as dazed as Remus felt, and was staring at him as if he was looking right through him. Suddenly, he shook his head as if to clear it, and said, "So, there you go, Moony. Proved you wrong. That was a good kiss. Yes, good. And no emotions involved. Obviously. Blokes and all that. So I was right. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go. Somewhere. And do something. Someplace that isn't here. So I'll just be going now."

Remus somehow managed to nod and pretended to turn his attention to his homework as Sirius got up and practically ran out the portrait hole. As soon as he was gone, though, he felt free to ask aloud the question that was pounding in his brain: "What the hell was that?"

* * *

After what had happened, Remus didn't feel any better about going down to dinner than he had when he was only facing the possibility of being snogged by Snape, so he stayed in the dorm. It was pretty likely none of the Marauders would get much eating done in the chaos sure to follow upon the first sips of eggnog, so he was sure he'd be able to convince James to lend him the Invisibility Cloak for a kitchen raid later.

The kiss with Sirius had left him with a lot to think about, so he spent the time organizing his rather incoherent thoughts in list format:

Good:

Sirius didn't _act_ like he had a problem with kissing boys- hope!  
Sirius said kiss was 'good'  
Glazed look in his eyes reminiscent of James at his most lovelorn

Bad:

But that's not what he said- is it only false hope?  
But he ran away afterwards  
According to him, before and after, no feelings involved

Uncertain:

Sirius flustered after kissing

When it came right down to it, the issue hinged on the item he couldn't place on either side of his list. Sirius had very clearly been flustered by their kiss- rendered practically incapable of coherent speech, Remus remembered with a flush of pride. He had made an incredibly transparent excuse to leave- so transparent, in fact, that Remus didn't think it could really qualify as an excuse. 'Go somewhere to do something', indeed. But why? Had Sirius (who practically oozed self-confidence most of the time), confused and shaken by what had happened, merely wanted to escape before Remus saw his uncertainty? It wouldn't be the first time Sirius had hidden from his fellow Marauders rather than show what he thought of as weakness. Remus supposed growing up in the House of Black could do that to a person.

But it seemed equally possible that Sirius had fled, not in order to puzzle out his own feelings, but to get away from Remus himself. What if he had found the kiss, not wonderful, but weird and awkward? Sure, he had said it was good, and Remus had duly noted that on his list, but he could have been just saying it. That had been what he was trying to prove by kissing Remus, after all. What if Sirius didn't want to be around him because he was uncomfortable about what had happened? Had Remus perhaps been too enthusiastic when he kissed back? _But I'm not the one who stuck my tongue in his mouth_, the hopeful part of him objected.

Worst of all, after the kiss Sirius had said that there were no feelings involved. If he really meant that, no matter if Sirius did sometimes fancy boys, no matter how much they had both enjoyed the kiss, it wouldn't be what Remus really wanted.

Remus could now hear his dorm-mates running up the stairs, sounding even more like a herd of elephants than usual, so he hastily hid his list in a musty Ancient Runes text that Sirius would never voluntarily open. It should be safe there.

"Moony! You look like you're feeling better. You missed out on quite the show at dinner," Peter greeted him.

"Feeling better?" Remus asked.

"Padfoot said you hadn't been feeling too well, so you had to miss dinner. He actually wasn't looking quite himself either, so I hope it isn't something going around. Anyway, you seem fine now. And you won't believe what you missed!"

"I take it the Snogging Nog was a great success?"

James, who had walked in looking as dazed as Sirius had earlier in the day, finally spoke. "She kissed me! Evans kissed me! Ah, my sweet Lily!" He collapsed rather overdramatically onto his bed.

"She really did, Remus. Though it was kind of odd, she somehow managed to kiss him and mutter curses at him at the same time. Anyway, he's been like this ever since. It was brilliant, I wish I'd got a Christmas present half as cool. Maybe we should all give each other pranks next year?"

"Sounds wonderful," Remus replied. "Who did Snape end up snogging?"

Sirius had been strangely quiet, but now he seemed to regain his enthusiasm. "He ended up with Bellatrix! It was even better than I could've planned it. She was snogging him right back, of course, but she looked fit to kill! When the eggnog wears off she'll probably hex his bollocks off. It was chaos, just like I predicted."

"I ended up getting kissed by Melanie Barrett and Evangeline Harkins. It was fabulous," Peter put in.

Remus couldn't help himself. He wanted, and didn't want, to know. "And who ended up kissing Sirius?" He tried to keep his tone neutral.

Sirius actually blushed, which Remus found quite gratifying. "Nobody important, Moony."

"Lily kissed him, too," Peter whispered.

"Yes," James added, "but I forgive her; she was acting under compulsion, after all. Plus, she swore at him even more than at me. It couldn't be clearer that it's me she fancies."

Sirius seemed eager to change the subject. "The best part, though, is that we aren't even in any trouble. You're really sorry you didn't see this, Moony. The teachers didn't get any Snogging Nog of their own, but when Goyle started to kiss Malfoy, McGonagall realized something was wrong. She rushed over to the Slytherin table and was trying to separate people and everything. When it didn't work she got really angry and started shouting about how she'd have the head of whoever had added an illegal Love Potion to the meal."

"That was when Dumbledore came to the rescue." Peter took up the tale. "He said, 'Minerva, I believe you will find that no Love Potion has been used here. The effects, to me, look characteristic of a Kissing Potion.' And then he asked Slughorn for his professional opinion, and he agreed. McGonagall was still pretty put out, but Dumbledore convinced her that a little Kissing Potion was 'no worse than mistletoe, of which there is plenty in this castle', so Sirius has nothing to worry about. Dumbledore and Slughorn seemed to think it was a splendid joke."

The rest of the evening passed with James and Sirius saying very little, while Peter filled in the silence with chatter about who had kissed whom and who had seemed to enjoy it. Remus occasionally encouraged him with questions, but he wasn't really concentrating on what he was saying. Sirius had seemed apologetic about having kissed someone else, which was encouraging, but then again the someone else was Lily, so he would have to seem apologetic for James' sake. But he had been talking to him, said "Moony" in that certain tone of voice that always made Remus' heart melt.

When Peter had finally talked himself out and the Marauders were all drifting off to sleep, Remus was left with a lot to think about. He knew Sirius, and he could be extremely evasive when there was something he didn't want to talk about. There would be no getting a direct answer out of him, even if he plucked up his Gryffindor courage and asked. If only something would happen that would force him to reveal how he felt about the kiss…


	2. Stripping Solution

Disclaimer: These characters don't belong to me. I make no money.

Two days after the kiss he had shared with Sirius, Remus was once again in the Gryffindor common room studying Herbology. He was finding it supremely hard to focus, though, as his mind kept wandering back to that very kiss. He was just about to give up and move (reluctantly) to the library so he could actually concentrate on his work when James clomped down the stairs.

"Moony! How's the studying going?"

"Not so well," Remus admitted.

"Y'know, you haven't been yourself for the past few days. You and Sirius both. Maybe you should go see Madam Pomfrey. You look like a Pepper-up Potion would do you a world of good."

_What would do me a world of good_, thought Remus, is _kissing Sirius again_. To James, he merely replied, "Oh, I'm sure it'll pass on its own. What are you up to this fine evening?"

"Just putting the finishing touches on my prank for Sirius. It starts tomorrow at breakfast."

"Oh? What have you come up with to rival the Snogging Nog?"

"It was pretty hard finding something to match it, that's for sure. I had to scrap my original idea entirely. But I finally came up with just the right thing." James paused and glanced suspiciously from side to side, as if he expected Sirius to be lurking in a corner. "I'm going to slip some Stripping Solution in his pumpkin juice at breakfast."

"I thought the point was that you weren't pranking each other?"

"I take it you've never heard of Stripping Solution, eh?"

"No, but it sounds foul."

"What makes you say that?"

Remus realized that he was thinking of Muggle paint stripper, a connection his pureblood friend was unlikely to have made. "Never mind. You're right, I've never heard of Stripping Solution. What does it do?"

"Such a sheltered life you lead, Moony. Here, just look at the bottle." James reached into his bag and pulled out a small glass bottle. The label proclaimed it to contain "Sexy Sindi's Stripping Solution." It also prominently featured a blonde, doe-eyed witch, presumably Sindi herself, performing a provocative striptease.

"Oh, _that kind_ of stripping," replied Remus, hoping against hope that he wasn't blushing. "Since you claim this isn't a prank _on_ Sirius, I take it that it doesn't make the one who imbibes it do the stripping." Which was really too bad, in a way. He forced himself to focus on James' explanation of the Stripping Solution, shoving aside visions of Sirius slowly, teasingly, loosening his tie, licking his lips ever so tantalizingly as he unbuttoned first one button, then another and another…

Ahem. Shoving those visions aside.

"No indeed. Just one spoonful of this in his morning beverage, and Sirius will be seeing other people naked all day long. And they'll never know. The potion just lets the person who drinks it see through their clothes, it doesn't make them actually take them off."

"Prongs, I'm not sure how that's any better. I mean, a day spent seeing people like Snape and McGonagall and Filch and Dumbledore naked doesn't sound like much of a present to me."

"Read the back label. They put certain restrictions on the potion. So Sirius will only see naked those people he's attracted to. So that hopefully rules out all those you mentioned, though I have my doubts about McGonagall."

Remus had to admit that this did indeed sound like the perfect prank for Sirius, and he told James as much. But then another thought occurred to him. "Prongs, why're you giving this stuff to Sirius? I'd think you'd want to use it yourself, for Lily."

James gave him a sly look. "What makes you think I haven't?"

* * *

Remus was safely ensconced in the library and in the midst of his Transfiguration homework when the full implications of James' gift to Sirius hit him. If this Stripping Solution made Sirius see people he was attracted to naked, then if, _if_ Sirius was attracted to him, Sirius would see _him_ naked!

For a moment, Remus wasn't sure whether he should thank Prongs or kill him. This was his chance to find out how Sirius felt about the kiss; all he had to do was wait for Sirius' reaction to him after he drank the Stripping Solution. But on the other hand, if Sirius could see him naked, it could make for a rather awkward day. Not that Remus was entirely opposed to the idea- far from it. But he had always assumed that he'd have some control over the circumstances when and if he and Sirius did anything that involved seeing each other naked. That was another thing- the 'each other' part. It wasn't fair that Sirius would get to see him, but not vice-versa! He could ask James for some Stripping Solution of his own, but he'd want an explanation, and Remus wasn't ready to give him one.

Merlin, James and Peter! Since he'd be sitting right across the table from Sirius at breakfast, he'd likely be the first person Sirius saw under the effects of the potion. And if he said anything about Remus' sudden and mysterious lack of clothing, James and Peter would know right away what it meant. Remus wasn't entirely sure how they'd react to that. Even though two boys who had cheerfully accepted his lycanthropy were unlikely to have an absolutely negative reaction to the idea of Sirius (and Remus) being interested in boys as well as girls, it would come as quite a shock all the same, especially revealed in such a way. And even if that didn't bother them, they were bound to be weird about the fact that they were all friends, and Remus hardly could blame them for that. He sometimes worried about that himself- would he really want Sirius at the expense of the friendship he had with all the Marauders? And finally, even if they were okay with all that, they would still be bound to tease him and Sirius mercilessly, just as he and Sirius and Peter (well, sometimes Peter) teased James about Lily.

So, how to go about finding out if Sirius was attracted to him (thanks to the Stripping Solution) without tipping James and Peter off if he was? Remus squandered an entire half-hour that could have been better spent on Transfiguration before coming up with what he felt was a workable plan. All it required was a ball-point pen- for this purpose, a quill just wouldn't do.

* * *

The next morning, Remus came down for breakfast a little late, but apparently he hadn't missed anything. As he sat down, he saw James slip him a wink and pour the Stripping Solution into Sirius' pumpkin juice while Peter kept him distracted with questions about the best way to transfigure a tomato into a Quaffle for a quiz that day. Remus tried to remain calm as Sirius finished explaining, turned and drained his pumpkin juice in one gulp.

Sure enough, Sirius immediately narrowed his eyes and gave Remus a most peculiar look. "Moony," he began, but then stopped and stared at Remus' chest. Oh good, his plan was working. Sirius seemed to come to himself and realize that his sentence needed finishing, as he transferred his gaze from Remus' chest to his face, then continued, "er, how you doing, mate? Lovely day, isn't it?"

"Yes, quite," Remus replied, as calm as could be. If he had to walk around all day with the knowledge that Sirius could see him naked, he at least wanted to make Sirius squirm a little, too. And at the moment, with the table hiding most of him from Sirius' view, it was pretty easy to act nonchalant.

Lily Evans chose that moment to approach the Marauders' spot at the table, a most unusual occurrence. James looked up hopefully, and Sirius- Sirius winked at Remus while James was distracted and then turned his attention to Lily. Oho, Remus thought, if that's the game he wants to play, it's on his head.

"Don't look so pathetically expectant, Potter, I still haven't forgiven you for the snogging incident."

"I told you, Evans- that was Sirius."

"Well, if he was involved, you were too. Might as well be Siamese twins, the way you work in tandem. Don't think I don't know that."

"Well, Lily," interjected Sirius, fixing her with a penetrating leer and managing to add whole new levels of suggestiveness to the two syllables of her name as he said it. He was so convincing Remus began to wonder if he really could see Lily naked, thanks to the Stripping Solution. "If you didn't come by to give in and put James out of his misery, what brings you to our end of the table?" He quirked one perfect eyebrow in that maddeningly sexy way he had.

Lily stared back at him coolly. "What's with you today, Black? Anyway, I couldn't help but overhear Peter asking about the Transfiguration quiz, and the wand movement you were demonstrating wasn't quite correct. I came by to offer to help him, if he'd like."

"That's very nice of you to offer, Lily. Not now, I don't think, but maybe we could meet outside the room before class and practice then?" Peter always had the best nose for when trouble was about to break, and he clearly didn't want to miss the Stripping Solution fallout.

"Sure. I'll see you then, Peter. Good day, Potter, Black, Remus."

Sirius continued to watch her as she made her way out of the Great Hall, quite obviously staring at her arse. When she was out of view, he turned deliberately to James, who had been watching him watch Lily and turning vaguely purple, and said, "Stripping Solution in the pumpkin juice, Prongs? Well, thanks for the present. It's already provided me with an amazing view." But as James sputtered incoherently and tried manfully to restrain himself from attacking him, and Peter watched them both gleefully from over his toast, Sirius turned to Remus and winked again. _Oh god_, he thought, _does he mean me_?

"Come along, Moony. Prongs looks like he needs time to recover himself, but we'll be late to Charms if we don't get going." Before Remus had really thought about it, he had stood up to follow Sirius. He flushed and suppressed a strong urge to sit back down. _Sirius will be able to see you naked all day long_, he told himself, _you can't avoid it forever_. The best course was definitely to brazen it out, since he didn't want James and Peter to think anything out-of-the-ordinary was going on between him and Sirius. He started to accompany Sirius out of the Great Hall, trying to put all thoughts of nudity out of his head. He hoped it would get easier as the day went on.

They were halfway down the table when Sirius turned to him and, looking him up and down with a sideways glance, said, "Oops! I think I forgot my quill back at the table. Go on ahead without me- you wouldn't want to be late for class. I'll catch up."

Remus couldn't remember Sirius having a quill out at the table, but if he wanted to go look, fine. If he walked to Charms by himself, he wouldn't have to spend the whole time thinking about how Sirius could see his bits, and resisting the urge to walk everywhere with his books strategically placed. He was just starting to relax at that realization, when another suddenly hit him, and he didn't have to turn around to know that Sirius was now staring at his arse just as avidly as he had Lily's.

* * *

The rest of the day passed far more quickly than Remus would have anticipated, though it had its moments. He was devoutly thankful that he sat behind Sirius in most of their classes. Sirius did keep turning around to glance at him, but that would've happened anyway, what with all the whispering and note-passing Sirius usually did in class. And at first he had tried touching him a lot more than usual- just pokes and slaps on the back, nothing too out of the ordinary- but feeling Remus' robes when he could see only skin must have been disorienting, because he stopped after awhile.

In general, Remus thought Sirius had done a much better job than he would have at behaving normally on a day when he could see everyone he was attracted to naked. Granted, he disappeared briefly after every single class, causing much snickering from James and Peter, but you could hardly blame him for needing to relieve the tension, as it were. And to Remus, who had special reason to pay attention, he wasn't making it particularly obvious whom he could see naked. He supposed that Sirius didn't want to get caught in the midst of a prank that could get him in a great deal of trouble, so was trying to be subtle, but Remus couldn't help but fancy that some of the discretion was for his sake, that Sirius didn't want to make him jealous. He continued to leer at Lily all morning, taking delight in the obvious frustration it caused James, which burst out as a furious, but whispered (lest Lily or anyone else hear about the prank) row at lunch. After that, Sirius pointedly ignored Lily, and James was much calmer. In Transfiguration, Remus noticed that Sirius kept his eyes everywhere but on McGonagall, and recalled James' suspicions.

After classes had finished, James and Peter talked Sirius into accompanying them down to the Quidditch pitch to watch Ravenclaw practice. There were some very fit girls on the Ravenclaw team, and James and Peter no doubt thought Sirius would enjoy seeing some of them flying about naked. Remus retreated to the library, where the afternoon and early evening passed in a blur of distracted studying and anticipation. He had expected to find spending a whole day around Sirius knowing that he could see him naked embarrassing; he hadn't realized that it would also be so arousing, once he got used to the idea. Every time Sirius looked at him, he had flushed, remembering that not only did he want Sirius, Sirius wanted him back, and the proof was in the Stripping Solution.

After dinner, Remus moved his studying to the common room, where he was joined by the James and Peter, though Sirius was nowhere to be seen. Peter was still fretting over the Transfiguration quiz, so Remus went over the theory behind plant transformations yet again. Eventually James, who had been yawning more and more over his Potions essay, went to bed.

Peter was clearly frustrated by his lack of progress. Soon after James left, he too started packing his parchment and quill away. "Gosh, it's gotten late. Are you coming up, Moony?" he asked as he got up from the table they were studying at.

"Nah," Remus replied, "I'd like to get this Runes essay finished." Briefly, he wondered where Sirius was.

He didn't have to wonder long, for as soon as Peter was up the stairs and out of sight, he pulled off James' Invisibility Cloak and revealed himself to be sitting in one of the couches by the fire.

"Hey there, Moony!"

Remus nearly jumped out of his seat. "When'd you get here? Were you under James' cloak the whole time? Does James know you have the cloak?"

"He loaned it to me willingly once I apologised about Lily- I told him the Stripping Solution had inspired me, so he probably thinks I'm in the Astronomy Tower with some girl. But don't act so surprised to see me, Moony. After all, you're the one who invited me." He patted the seat beside him, and Remus came and joined him on the couch. "Pretty clever idea, that, writing a note to me on your chest. Must've been hard to do with a quill."

"That's why I didn't use a quill, I used a Muggle pen. Still took quite a while, though." He had had to spend an extra fifteen minutes in the bathroom that morning, painstakingly inking

'Pads- If you can see this, don't say anything. Stripping Solution in the pumpkin juice. –Moony

P.S. Meet me in the common room after Prongs and Wormtail leave.'

It was hard to write on his own chest, and looking in the mirror only made it harder. "I figured that if, well, you were…interested, you wouldn't want James and Peter to figure it out, at least not that way, so I thought a note where only you could see it, and then only if the Stripping Solution worked, would be best."

"If the Stripping Solution worked? So you weren't sure it would?"

"Of course I wasn't sure," Remus snapped. "You kissed me once and then ran away, and you've been acting funny around me since then. That could mean any number of things."

Sirius looked suitably chastened. "I'm sorry, Moony, it was just- it's scary, isn't it? I mean, you're my friend, and you're a bloke, and I didn't quite understand why I was feeling the way I did about you, and then I kissed you and- I was wrong, Moony."

"Wrong about what?"

"About kissing. I thought I had had good kisses with other people, girls I didn't particularly care about, but that kiss with you- they were nothing like that." Sirius leaned in close, and Remus could feel his breath on his ear. "I'd never had a good kiss until I kissed you."

What response could Remus give to that but to kiss him again? When their lips finally parted once more, he pressed his forehead against Sirius' and said, softly, "You're right."

"Right about what?"

"It _is_ scary. I mean, less scary now that I know you feel the same way, but I'm worried, too, about staying friends with you if we try this and it doesn't work, and about how James and Peter will take it, if we even tell them. And…"

"And what, Moony?"

"And, well," Remus took a deep breath and said the rest of what he had to say very quickly, before he could chicken out. "I've never really done more than kissing and I think I want to do more with you but I'm not entirely sure how and I don't think I'll be any good at it."

That made Sirius chuckle. He kissed Remus on his forehead, and then on the tip of his nose, and said "Well, I'm hardly an expert on these matters myself, at least between two blokes. But we can figure it out, just like we'll figure out how to do this and be friends, too, and how to tell James and Peter when we're ready. We can take it nice and slow. Except…"

"Except what?"

"Except I've been able to see you naked all day and you're still naked right now and if we don't do something I think I might die. Just this once, please, Moony? Then we'll go back to slow."

Remus remembered how it had felt to have Sirius' eyes on him all day, knowing what Sirius could see, and found he too was definitely interested in 'doing something'. "Well," he said, licking his lips nervously, "I hate to admit it, but I never did get you a Christmas present, so perhaps I do owe you something. What did you have in mind?"

"Could I just touch you? And maybe you could touch me, too? I reckon that's a good place to start."

"Okay." Remus nodded. "Okay."

They kissed again, but this time it turned awkward; Remus could tell Sirius was as nervous as he was, and that made him feel a bit better. He moved his hand from where it had been resting on Sirius' thigh to press it against the bulge at his crotch. Encouraged by the soft moan Sirius uttered into his mouth, he rubbed his hand up and down the length of it. _There was no need to be nervous, really,_ he thought; it would be just like doing it to himself.

Then Sirius moved his hand to press against _him_, and he realized this was nothing like doing it to himself- it was exponentially better than that. He moaned and thrust instinctively into the touch just as Sirius groaned and pulled away from the kiss.

"Fuck, Moony, I just- I can see you, but I can't feel you, and it's driving me mad."

Of course. Remus briefly considered reaching for the Invisibility Cloak, but settled for crossing his fingers and hoping no one came down into the common room in the next few minutes. Judging from how he was feeling, this probably wouldn't take that long. "Feel free," he said, and undid the fly of Sirius' trousers, then boldly slipped his hand into Sirius' boxers. The noise Sirius made when wrapped his hand around the hard shaft was so arousing he worried that he might come before Sirius could return the favour.

Sirius had soon undone his fly, too, and managed, somewhat awkwardly, to pull down his pants a little (_I should really look into some boxers_, Remus thought). "I've been wanting to do this all day," he panted, as he gripped Remus firmly. "You're so fucking hard."

"So are you," Remus replied, and then there was no more talking. It felt much better than doing it to himself, but the principle of the thing was the same, he found, and just as he had suspected, it wasn't too long before Sirius let out a sort of strangled yelp as he came. The feel of that wetness all over his hand was enough to send Remus over the edge, too.

For a minute they just sat there in front of the fire, recovering. Remus was the first to break the silence. "So, Happy Christmas, Padfoot. Did you like your present?"

"Best I've ever received. Better than James' Stripping Solution, though it's a close second. Y'know, I didn't get you a Christmas present either, Moony, so I guess this could be yours too?"

"It really is the best gift ever. Beats books and chocolate by a mile. And more than that, I get the feeling it's a gift that keeps on giving!"

"I suspect you're right about that, because I know I want to do this every chance we get!"

Remus gave him another kiss, then asked, "Could you really see Lily? With the Stripping Solution, I mean?"

"Nah, I just wanted to get at Prongs. Plus, I had to make it clear it was working without bringing you into it."

"What about McGonagall?" Remus inquired, unable to help himself.

Sirius looked shamefaced and muttered something only vaguely comprehensible about Regulus' nanny and demanding women who wore tweed, and Remus decided not to pursue the subject further. He snuggled up against Sirius and said, "I want to spend every Christmas like this."

"With your pants half undone in a room that someone could walk into at any second?"

"No," Remus replied hastily, though he did do up his fly. "I meant curled up in front of a fire with you."

Sirius looked amazed but happy to hear that. He kissed Remus once more, sweetly and gently this time, and then said, "You're right. This is the perfect way to spend Christmas. In fact, it makes me want to sing, I'm so happy." And with one final swift kiss to the tip of Remus' nose, he burst out into song as he pulled Remus up from the couch and lead him towards the stairs.

"Werewolf toasty by an open fire, Padfoot nipping at his toes, Yuletide carols with lyrics that are dire, and bed-curtains charmed with _Silencio_s…"

This time, Remus couldn't help but join in. "Everybody knows, an Animagus and some mistletoe help to make the season bright…"


End file.
